Self-Transcendence as the Ultimate Reality in Interreligious Dialogue: A Neo-Confucian Perspective

Abstract

This article presents the Confucian teaching of self-transcendence and its modern implications for interreligious dialogue. It first points out that most scholars in the field of interreligious dialogue share a common tendency to rely very heavily on Western concepts and/or Christian theological approaches. My discussion of self-transcendence is based on the classical teaching of Confucius and Mencius and its leading interpretation by two eminent Neo-Confucian thinkers, Chu Hsi (1130—1200) and Yi T’oegye (1501—1570). I present this core textual tradition while consulting its modern interpreters and some key examples of Confucian practice. Human beings have the potential to work toward perfection (sagehood), and embedded in this doctrine is a religious belief in the oneness of Heaven and human nature. We need to explore a new approach to the interreligious discussion of ‘‘ultimate reality’’ by considering Neo-Confucianism. A dialogue between the Neo-Confucian vision of self-transcendence and the converging heart of world religions will enhance the global enterprise of comparative religion.